The coast guard said the migrants ‒ 15 men, 16 women and 16 minors ‒ were located Thursday near the southern tip of the Peloponnese region, some 250 kilometers south of Athens, after managing to reach a beach and call for help, AP reported.
The migrants carried a man found to be unresponsive by rescuers and later confirmed dead, while four children and three women were hospitalized for observation. The nationality of the migrants was not immediately known. Officials said coast guard divers had checked the hull of the sailboat and found no one trapped inside.
Migrants have typically embarked on riskier journeys in recent years to try and avoid heavily patroled Greek islands near the coast of Turkey. Boats heading to the Greek mainland or Italy are frequently abandoned by smugglers in the early stages of the crossing.